A Little Help....

[patrickt]

And opinion piece I was reading from USA Today started with:
"A few years ago, the corruption convictions of several prominent plaintiffs' lawyers put a spotlight on dishonesty in American civil courts. Now the sleaze has burst back into the news with cases involving Chevron and Dole Food Co., this time with an international twist."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/04/15/chevron-dole-cases-expose-lawyer-corruption-column/7758335/

Now, I really try to keep up with the news and I totally missed "several prominent plaintiff's lawyers" being convicted for anything. Can someone help me by refreshing my memory? I did search for asbestos lawsuit lawyers and silicosis lawsuit lawyers getting convicted and while fraud was obvious I didn't find any information about convictions. So, help me out here. Remind me of several lawyers, or even one, convicted for corruption or fraud or suborning perjury or anything related to their work in civil cases.

[Chris]

This might be it, Judges Slam More and More Plaintiffs' Attorneys for Corruption (http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-13/judges-slam-more-and-more-plaintiffs-attorneys-for-corruption), starting paragraph 4:


The case at issue in the March 7 ruling, known as Tellez, went to trial in 2008 and produced a multimillion-dollar verdict for workers. That verdict was thrown out when Dole’s attorneys proved that many of the plaintiffs never worked for the company and weren’t, in fact, sterile. Witnesses and investigators were intimidated in Nicaragua, and plaintiffs were coached to concoct false stories. One supposed victim testified that he was instructed to memorize and repeat phony evidence “like a parrot.”...

[patrickt]

Chris, I've read a lot about the fraud and corruption. What I haven't read about is any plaintiffs attorney's being convicted of crimes or disbarred. The USA Today opinion piece specifically cites convictions and I don't think there have been any.

Even prosecuting attorneys found to have committed prosecutorial misconduct get a private reprimand and nothing else. DA Nifong was an exception because of all the publicity. I think he spent a night in jail and had is license suspended in North Carolina.

[Chris]

Hmm, thought that's what the story was about, but you may be right, they were never prosecuted.